Sails of Freedom
by Congeria
Summary: Pirate AU. The people think the Titans are eating them because they are being punished for their sins so they don't fight them in order not to anger the God. The pirates think otherwise and fight for the people even though the people they sacrifice their lives for despise them. Humanity must unite but they are fighting each other instead.
1. Chapter 1

They say these seas are cursed. Cursed by a merciless God. A God, whose eyes are hungry for the sight of human blood. It is also said that this is an outcome of humankind's sins. So even this uncontrollable, cruel God was forgiving and caring once- not that I believe it. A God who _lets_ this happen-no, who _makes_ this happen, it is a God I don't want to believe in. But the legend says, it all started a hundred years ago when humankind gave themselves to lust, greed and avarice. They abandoned God and created a heaven of their own on the land. The land that _God_ created, the people _he_ let to live. Oh and did he get furious... He felt betrayed and lonely. He felt _weak_. He called upon the beasts of Hell and demanded them to crawl back to the surface of Earth. He said:  
_  
"Destroy the sinners, the ones that abandoned their God, their Lord."_

And so they did. These beasts were no match for any human. Their looks were too terrifying for the human eyes to see. Even looking at them made the poor people lose their minds. Because when they looked at them, they saw their sins. They saw their _inner monsters_.

They defeated an army of millions of strong men in twenty minutes. They were merciless and blood-thirsty but the most terrifying thing about them was the fact that they didn't simply kill humans. They _ate_ them. They devoured them while their loved ones watched, they first ate the limbs so that they died slowly and painfully.

They were surely from nowhere but _Hell._

So how are _we_ still here? How can _we_ be still alive? Mere humans versus the giants from Hell. I'll tell you. It's because we didn't accept defeat. It's because we _swore_ to survive, to believe no matter how hopeless the situation is, to protect the ones we loved the most. So we fought. We fought with all of our force, even though we knew we had no chance.

However, the legend says otherwise. It says the people accepted their sins and _welcomed_ God's fury. And when they did, the God appreciated their courage and faith; so he forgave them. At that night, the King of the three islands saw a dream. In his dream God came to him and said these words:

_"Only the ones against God will be eaten."_

The King knelt before God and asked for the forgiveness of his people. God saw how this man had the kindest of hearts so he accepted his offer-huh, of course this _kind-hearted, perfect_ "King" is our current king's father. This part of the legend practically shows how loyal and oh so amazing the king is. I call bullshit. The reason why things are so complicated right now is because of him to begin with; but we will get there later. Now, where were we? Oh, yes, God accepted his apology and forgave his people. He built the strongest, mightiest walls you can ever imagine to the shores of the King's islands. In that way, God protected his people as he said in the dream. So the beasts ate everyone and only the inhabitants of these islands could survive the slaughter.

_Island Maria_, the center of the bravest, strongest warriors in the world.  
_Island Rose_, a great and somewhat-rich center of mercenary.

And finally, _Island Sina;_ an island full of wealth, prosperity and earthly pleasures. The island where our kind-hearted king lived. The "saviour" of humanity.

However, the reality is so much more different than what the legend says. At that time, the King had gathered his men and fled to the palace grounds. They led the people who could survive to the underground cities- a place for criminals and abandoned people. People who had no one on the land where the sun touches. People who no longer had any pride nor life left on their worn out bodies.

The people tried to kill the beasts with cannons but it was no use. The king tried to stop them.

_"You'll make him angrier!"_ he cried.

But the people didn't listen to his cries. They sent men on them, yet they were simply squashed by the giants' enormous feet. The King couldn't do anything, he was just a useless pawn.

Suddenly, they heard a painful cry. A cry that shook the surface of the earth. The palace's walls shook with so much force, the King feared his life. The people looked up at the sky, almost waiting for an explanation. The noise and the shaking of the ground ceased seconds after. Everyone rushed to look at what had just happened. Their curiosity shadowed their fear.

_"Nothing can surpass a human's curiosity"_ after all.

Here they saw a pirate, standing on a giant's neck, looking victorious. He had _killed_ it. He had killed a beast of _Hell_. The people started to cheer for him. The other pirates also took out their swords and cut the ropes off of the ships. They used them to climb on the giants and then they slaughtered them one by one. So not the almighty _King_, but the _pirates_ had saved them. Of course, the King despised the situation. He declared that the pirates were simple sinners who were rebelling against God's will. And so, the people believed him. Not because they actually wanted to believe him but because they felt like they _owed_ the King. They were loyal to him, no matter what. Humans are strange like that.

And somehow the walls were built. No one actually knows how but I doubt it was by the hand of God. The beasts had the main attention so no accurate document has remained to this day. Soon we also found out that these beasts could swim and live in the seas.

We've learnt much about them, actually. But now instead of fighting our _real_ enemy, we are fighting each other.

_The Marines_, the men of the King. Their main objective is to protect the King's people and eliminate the pirates. They believe that if they kill us all, they'll clean out the world from sinners and the beasts will stop their slaughter. As a resolution, this world will become a paradise again. Their emblem is two swords crossed over the royal crown. It symbolizes _royalty, honour and courage._

_The Watchers,_ they are the people who watch over the walls in case something happens. Their emblem is a golden telescope with a red rose around it. It symbolizes _the protection of peace and harmony_.

_The Pirates,_ the ones who sail the seas and fight against humanity's enemy. Their emblem is a cracked skull which has blue and wight wings. It symbolizes the fight against _death_, the struggle to _survive_ and of course, _freedom_.

We, as pirates, battle against the beasts, or as we call them, _the Titans_. Even though we are all hated by the people whom we sacrifice our lives for, we won't kneel.

We are pirates after all. The last hope of humanity.


	2. Chapter 2

"Eren, you're not a pirate."  
The weather was really nice today. A few birds flew over them, singing ancient songs in their language. The girl's hair was flowing so elegantly that one could think it was dancing to the song.

"But I'll be one day! I'll kill 'em Titans! Ow- Mikasa stop hitting me!" Mikasa, that girl with the elegant hair, sighed but her expression didn't change.

"I'll stop hitting you if you change your mind."

"Hell no!"

As their voices fade away, we focus on another kid at their age, sitting on the edge of the river, looking thoughtful. He had this mushroom haircut and blue eyes. Unlike the fiery boy we have just met, the one who wanted to kill Titans, this boy's eyes are less determined, they carry _fear_. Why, you ask. Because he _thinks _and when he thinks, he _knows_. He sees what is to come and this scares him.

"Armin, tell Mikasa that I won't get killed. Tell her how I saved you from those bandits!" Eren looked at him as he waited for his support.

"Eh- I-"

"You did what!?" All of the children turned their heads to look at the annoyed voice's owner. A middle-aged woman with chocolate brown eyes was standing there, tapping her foot.

"Eh, hi mum..." mumbled Eren as he scratched the back of his head mindlessly. Armin got up to show some respect to the older woman as Eren tried to cover the book laying on the ground.

"What the hell is that, Eren?" exclaimed Carla. Oh, Eren was so dead...

"Not anything you'd be interested in! Just stuff!" But the book was already taken away from his hands and Carla, the mother, could take a look at the title just to be shocked.

"Eren! Did you steal one of your father's books again!?" Eren looked helpless but he was still clenching his fists in a rather threatening way. Carla harsly grabbed Eren's arm as she looked at his eyes questioningly. "Do you still want to be a pirate Eren? Can't you see you're just going to be killed? Even if you don't get eaten, the King will execute you, do you hear me!?" The poor woman was trying to sound discouraging but pure fear was visible on her voice.

"I don't care! I was just telling stories to Mikasa and Armin and... and- and you are just overreacting! Even though I will still join the pirates no matter what you say, I hate it when you're acting like such a..." Eren turned his head away, looking flustered.

"Such a _what_, Eren?" Carla looked at her son's eyes challengingly. At that moment, Armin realised that these two people were quite similar. Even though the colours were different, their eyes had the same fiery look. They were both ready for anything to come. They were strong, unlike Armin.

The dinner wasn't so much fun as Eren was grounded and his book was also taken away. He didn't want to face Mikasa either; because she would look at him with that look which meant 'this is the right thing, Eren, we are just trying to protect you'. She always acted like she knew everything.

"Will Dr. Jager come home today, Carla?" asked Mikasa suddenly. Carla halted for a second and almost looked like she was going to tear up but she composed herself quickly.

"She isn't going to come home for a while, sweetheart. Finish your soup, we are still on rations because of the Marines' last failure."

"The idiots can't even do a thing right," mumbled Eren as he finished his soup with one last sip.

Carla closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "Eren, I don't want you to talk about these subjects, you understand me? Now, go to your room and don't go out until your punishment is over, understood?"

This woman! Eren got up and stormed away before he gave a last look at his mother. They never understood, _never_. They were all in a cage. The humans, all of them. But the biggest cage for Eren was his family, was this home. Yes, he loved them very much but this was the reason anyway. Because he loved them, he couldn't just run away. He couldn't hurt them, no matter what.

Eren's head had gotten cooler as he headed up for his bed under the wooden window. He would leave it open at nights before he went to bed so he could hear the voices of the people in the taverns. So he could listen the serene voices of the night bugs, could feel the soft wind on his skin, giving him goosebumps. So he could feel _life_. And the more he felt it, the more he wanted to protect it. Because you know-...

He always fell asleep at this part. The night was quiet but a quiet night is a very dangerous kind of night. It welcomes any one who can create a sound; that's the reason.

Eren shot his eyes open and quickly got up on his bed, panting. His heartbeat was out of control, he felt dizzy. He saw a man in his room, seeking something in the shadows. Eren panicked, he wanted to scream, what was going on!? How, how, how-... oh, he came back to his senses now... He slowly layed back again. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He reached up to his pillow slowly, feeling kind of weak because he couldn't see anything. He found the knife he had hidden in case of emergencies and hell yeah this was an emergency.

However, he was caught out of guard as a pair of arms embraced him and lifted him off of the ground. He unconciously let go of the knife, losing his only weapon. Only weapon except _himself, _though. Eren finally shot his eyes open and started to kick and bite the intruder. The intruder cursed under his breath and Eren felt a sharp pain on his head. At first he was fine and didn't realise anything but soon, the world was nothing but a big, black hole.


End file.
